At last, the NFL’s most accomplished player is now the league’s highest-paid once again.
On Wednesday, the Chiefs announced they agreed to a new contract extension with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, signing him to an extension that brings his total contract value up to $504.75 million and earns him an average salary of $64 million per year. With this raise, Mahomes jumps from being the 13th highest-paid quarterback to the highest-paid player in the league.
Mahomes is the first quarterback to reset the market since Dak Prescott, who became the league’s first $60 million per year quarterback in September 2024. Star quarterbacks such as Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford have agreed to extensions between Prescott and Mahomes, but Mahomes is the first to top Prescott’s salary. No other quarterback had come within $5 million per year.
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So who could get paid next? Here’s a look at four quarterbacks that could be signed to big extensions in the next calendar year. There is no guarantee that any of these players will top Mahomes’s salary or contract, the largest in NFL history, but they could continue raising the overall market.
Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens
If there’s one quarterback with the best shot at challenging Mahomes for the title of highest-paid player, it’s Lamar Jackson. The two-time NFL MVP is currently set to become a free agent in 2028, and has the credentials to reasonably seek the type of salary Mahomes is now earning. The Ravens have expressed that they want to re-sign their superstar quarterback and Jackson has shared he wants to remain in Baltimore, leaving it a matter of when a new contract will come to fruition.
Baker Mayfield, QB, Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield was due for an extension before Mahomes re-signed with the Chiefs, but the Mahomes deal emphasizes that Mayfield is paid well below the current quarterback market. Mayfield is not expected to top Mahomes or reach the $60 million per year mark, but at a $33.33 million salary, he is simply not making above-average veteran starting quarterback pay. Of the 17 veteran quarterbacks that are on multiyear deals and not their rookie contracts, he ranks 16th in salary, only ahead of Malik Willis. Not only are 15 quarterbacks getting paid more than him, but also 12 are making $50 million per year or more and 14 of them are making over $10 million more per year than Mayfield.
Mayfield expressed last week that he wants a new contract by the start of training camp. It remains to be seen if that will happen, but whether it’s this summer or next offseason, Mayfield will likely be getting a raise in the near future.
Drake Maye, QB, Patriots
Drake Maye and the rest of the 2024 quarterback class are not eligible for extensions yet, but they will be next spring. Maye already ascended into top-10 quarterback status in 2025 when he finished as the NFL MVP runner-up and led the Patriots to a Super Bowl in just his sophomore campaign.
With another strong season in 2026, Maye could certainly reach the top of the quarterback market. It will be interesting to see if Maye or another member of the 2024 quarterback class tops Mahomes, given that the Chiefs’ star will remain the league’s most accomplished player regardless of almost anything else another quarterback achieves this season. Still, given there are multiple non top-10 quarterbacks making well over $50 million per year and the market is always rising, Maye easily could be signing for record salary by the time the 2027 season rolls around.
Caleb Williams, QB, Bears
Like Maye, Caleb Williams will become extension eligible next offseason. Also like Maye and the Patriots, the Bears can wait until the 2028 offseason to re-sign Williams if they so choose, though the price tag will likely be even steeper by that point.
Williams is on the path to superstardom. Though he still needs to find greater consistency on the gridiron, if he continues on his current trajectory, he could be in for a stellar season and one worthy of a top-10 quarterback payday.
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There is little indication for how the Bears will go about Williams’s eventual extension. The Bears have not signed a quarterback to a second contract since Jay Cutler in 2014, who they inked to a seven-year deal through 2020. Cutler was on a new team by 2017. Overall, the Bears have not signed a first-round pick to a second contract since 2014 first-round pick Kyle Fuller, who they didn’t re-sign until after placing the transition tag on him. The Bears will certainly extend Williams at some point, the questions will be when and for how much.
Honorable Mentions: C.J. Stroud, Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix
Outside of these four, C.J. Stroud, Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix are also contenders to help reshape the quarterback market. If Daniels and Nix turn in big seasons—particularly for Daniels if he plays the way he did as a rookie—they could similarly earn massive contracts like Williams or Maye.
Stroud, meanwhile, enters a pivotal season after a nightmare playoff run last winter. The good news is that he is on a championship-caliber team, and if he can deliver a deep postseason run or even Super Bowl with their help, he will have leverage entering a contract year.
